


The Ride Home

by melagan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Canon, First Time, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:14:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29769135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/pseuds/melagan
Summary: Rescued after being captured off-world, Rodney has temporarily lost the use of his voice. He and John still find a way to communicate.~~~
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62
Collections: Romancing McShep 2021





	The Ride Home

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sidecar Hijinks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414520) by [mific](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mific/pseuds/mific). 



Rodney clamped his mouth shut and hung on for dear life. He'd scream, but the last time he did he'd swallowed a bug.

The crazy person driving seemed hellbent on crashing before they ever made it to the—the circle thing. Why, oh, why, couldn't he remember names? It was important. Rodney knew it was important but that voice had been taken away from him and he had no idea when he'd get it back.

"Hang tight, Rodney. We're almost there." 

The maniacal grin from the guy driving should have been a warning. Instead, Rodney felt strangely comforted. 

The driver guy pulled the riding thing up to the circle and helped Rodney get out. "Never thought I'd be taking a ride on a motorcycle complete with a sidecar in the Pegasus galaxy. Go figure. But it sure came in handy."

Pridefully, Rodney pointed to his chest.

"Got it. You're telling me that you’re the one that got it running. I wouldn't expect anything less. John began dialing the DHD, sparing a quick look over his shoulder to check on Rodney. His expression lightened. "Given time, I bet you could have gotten yourself rescued."

Certain that wasn't the case, Rodney frowned and shook his head no.

"Hey, buddy, don't worry about it. I know the loss of words has to be driving you nuts, but Beckett will fix you up right as rain. You'll be back to yourself in no time."

John, keeping a loose grip on Rodney's arm guided them through the circle of water. 

Rodney couldn't say his rescuer's name to save his life, but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that this man was someone he could trust. Even if he did drive like a bat-out-of-hell.

They stepped through the circle into a room filled with light and people. Lots of people. 

Rodney tried unsuccessfully to hide behind his companion. Instead, he found his wrist grabbed, and he was gently pulled to the front. While he recognized most of them it was the medical team standing there that caught his attention. He tried to pull away but the solid grip on his wrist never wavered.

"Carson," John said, "Rodney needs some help here. He's having trouble talking. I think the bastards that took him did something to him."

"Let's get him to the infirmary, Major Sheppard, and we'll see what's what."

Major Sheppard. Rodney tried his damnedest to tattoo that name to the inside of his skull so he wouldn't forget. He knew how important the man was to him, but his mouth refused to form the letters to say his name. 

Never letting go, Sheppard escorted him to the infirmary. With just a little bit of urging Rodney hopped up onto the scanner bed. 

"Lay still, Rodney, while we see what's what," Carson said. "Hm. Major, could you come here, please?

"What is it?" John looked like a man bracing for the worst as he stepped over to the view screen.

Thankfully they were both standing close enough Rodney didn't have to strain his ears to hear every word. 

"Exactly what state did you find Rodney in?" Carson asked. "Was he unconscious at any time? Acting oddly? For example, did he recognize you with no trouble or did you have to explain who you were?"

"He seemed okay. He was working on this sweet motorcycle engine. You know how focused he gets." John paused. "Come to think of it, he didn't say anything when he saw me, but he did seem glad to see me. In fact, it was his idea that we use the motorcycle to escape."

Carson frowned. "Did he speak to you?" 

John shook his head no. "He didn't speak, but you know Rodney. He has a way of letting you know exactly what he wants and he was pretty empathic about getting out of there."

"Was there anyone else there? Guards? Perhaps someone that could have done this?" Carson magnified the screen image of two tiny bright blue lights emanating from behind Rodney's ears.

"No guards. Now that you mention it, that did seem kind of strange. Why, what is that?" John asked. 

"My guess is it was used to hold him prisoner. It's causing interference with the cognitive and speech center of his brain."

Horrified, Rodney jumped off the scanner bed and scrambled over to see what they were talking about. 

Carson reached up and gently probed behind Rodney's ears. "Whatever these are, they're not deep and not much bigger than a common pin. While they'd be damned hard for Rodney to remove, now he's here I can get it done in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

"Yeah, doc, just how dangerous is this surgery?" John asked. "Are you sure it will fix him?"

"It's a wee bit of minor surgery. These implants aren't deep and frankly, were rather crudely done. They'll be simple enough to remove. I can take care of it right now in fact. I'm sure Rodney would like to get full cognitive use of his tongue back, wouldn't you lad."

"That's it?" John frowned. "Not to be negative, but in my experience nothing in Pegasus is that simple."

"Aye, simple, but sufficiently diabolical. It's easier to keep a prisoner if you cut off his ability to recognize words or symbols. It would make any gate address nigh impossible to remember."

In the face of John's stunned silence, Carson gently added, "Why don't you go give your report to Dr. Weir and come back in half an hour. We'll be done here by then."

As John turned to leave, Rodney reached out and grabbed him by the shirtsleeve. Panic rushed through him at the thought of being left alone. 

"I'll be back, buddy. Just as soon as I can." John gave Rodney's shoulder a squeeze. Carson's going to take good care of you. You remember Carson, right?"

Rodney did remember. He remembered everything, just not how to communicate with anything resembling his old ease. He hadn't cared all that much about talking during his prison stay. His captors were all stupid and it would have been a waste of breath anyway.

No, he'd been left alone most of the time to work on whatever piece of mechanics they'd shoved in his face. Some things he fixed. Some things he made sure could never be fixed. Meanwhile, he'd kept his thoughts to himself and bided his time as he waited for rescue. 

In prison, pointing and head nods had served well enough. But now, it was all different. He needed his words, damn it. Shoving his panic down he reluctantly let go of John's shirt. He even managed to rustle up a wan smile as he watched John leave.

~*~

John finished giving Elizabeth his report and headed back to the infirmary. Elizabeth had plenty of questions, but didn't seem to appreciate all of his answers. Fine. She would just have to deal with his second option. He was locking the prison gate address out of the database with or without her permission. Either that or he was exercising his first option. Blowing up the planet's stargate.

And, if it turned out that those bastards had permanently hurt Rodney, option one was going back on the table. 

Crap. He needed to get his shit together. Rodney was skittish enough as it was without picking up on John's frustration.

He rolled his shoulders. Shaking out the tension he plastered on a smile, and ambled into the infirmary. At the sight of Rodney passed out on the hospital bed John dropped his fake demeanor and anxiously asked, "Carson? What happened to Rodney?"

"We had a bit of a setback," Carson explained. "Rodney had a bad reaction to removing the pins. I suspect some unknown drug is the culprit. I've had his blood work run over to the lab, and as soon as I get an answer, I've no doubt we can counteract its effect. Meanwhile, I'll not be able to remove the pins until we know it's safe." 

John curled his hands into fists. "He's just sleeping?"

"Aye. The poor lad seemed tuckered out and who can blame him?" Gravely, Carson asked, "Do you mind being here when he wakes up? He responds better when you're here."

Of course, John would stay. Carson would have to pry him away with a crowbar if there was any chance Rodney needed him. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. 

Rodney looked far too pale lying there. Too pale, too motionless. Too quiet. Eight weeks ago, Rodney had disappeared out from under their noses. It should have been a milk run. Teyla had negotiated a trade agreement with the Varians for durable woven goods in exchange for antibiotics. Just the kind of trade agreement that put a smile on Dr. Weir's face. 

When John had woken up face down in a field with a bitch of a headache and spots wavering in front of his eyes, he realized he'd been drugged. Not just him either. He'd found Teyla and Ford just a few yards away in the same situation. That was bad enough. They'd searched the field but there'd been no sign of Rodney. He was gone. Just gone. 

For two months John had every available gate team out looking for McKay. Then they'd finally caught a break. The god-damned Varians had sold him. 

Now they had Rodney back slightly the worse for wear, but not broken. Never broken. Not if John had a say.

No matter how reluctantly he'd been to admit the truth, for the first time in two months John felt like he could breathe again. Somehow, despite a huge ego, a know-it-all-attitude, and a mile-a-minute-mouth, Rodney McKay had wormed his obnoxious ways under John's skin. 

Maybe it had something to do with his stubborn loyalty or ability to save the day even when scared shitless or the way he always got John's jokes. 

He could figure it out later. Or never. Didn't matter. Rodney was back. John sat beside his bed and took note of the dark shadows under his friend's eyes. Picking up Rodney's limp hand he tried to rub some warmth into it. "Hey, buddy, think you could wake up for me?"  
Rodney slowed opened his eyes and blinked. As soon as he saw John his whole face lit up. 

John gave his hand a squeeze. "Glad you're back. I missed—we all missed you. You should have seen Teyla. She pinned the Varian mayor up against the wall and held her knife at his throat until he coughed up your location.

"As for Ford, I had to hold him back to keep him from blowing up the place." This probably wasn't the time to mention that he'd handed Ford his extra block of C-4 in case he needed it.

Rodney tugged at John's hand.

"Me? What did I do? Well, now, that's a story and a half." What he'd done was refuse to wait for reinforcements. As soon as he'd known where Rodney was being held, he'd formed his own one-man strike force and headed through the Varian's stargate to bring Rodney back.

Teyla hadn't been happy with him for sending her back to Atlantis to brief Weir. Ford had been even less thrilled about going back, but someone had to bring the reinforcements. As for himself, waiting wasn't an option. 

"Besides, you already know I found you and how we got out of there," John continued. "Nice job on fixing up those wheels by the way."

And wasn't that a happy circumstance? Without backup, the risk of being caught was high. Not that he'd chewed fingernails over it. He knew they'd find a way out. But, John had to admit finding Rodney fixing up that shiny red hog and hack combo had made escaping a breeze. 

Before he could add to the story, Carson walked in with a smile on his face and Rodney's chart in his hand.

"Your blood tests are back. Good news, lad. We'll do another check in a few hours to be certain, but whatever they gave you seems to be working its way out of your system quite rapidly," Carson said.

"That means you can take out the—" John touched his ear.

"Tomorrow afternoon. No earlier," Carson cautioned. "And, that's if his blood work is clear. However, there's no reason to think it won't be. Just a bit of precaution."

John nodded, more than ready to have his friend back.

Rodney tried to sit up, and John slipped an arm under him to help. He looked at John then looked at the door and back at John. It didn't take a genius to know what Rodney wanted. 

"How long does he have to stay?" John asked. "It's obvious he's ready to get out of here. I mean, he's had a rough time of it, and being in his own quarters has got to help him more than being in the infirmary right now."

Carson frowned. "You'll go with him? Make sure he gets his rest and something to eat?"

John tightened his grip on Rodney's hand. "No problem."

"Very well. You let me know if anything changes. And check in with me in six hours regardless. Understand?" 

When John agreed, he added, "I can't deny that familiar surroundings will do him good. Fine then, he can leave with you. Remember, six-hour check-ins, and don't forget or I'll have that nice Lieutenant Ford hunt you down."

~*~

Rodney had no problem realizing he was getting out. He scooted off the bed so fast he bumped into John.

"Easy there." John grabbed his shoulders to steady him. "Let's get you some pants before we go anywhere."

One of the nurses came in and laid a set of clothes on the bed. "I'm afraid yours are in the laundry, but these should do. We're all glad you're back safe, Dr. McKay." She cast a side-long glance in John's direction. "It hasn't been the same without you. Don't you worry, Dr. Beckett will have you fixed up good as new in no time."

Rodney just nodded, confused by the interplay between John and the nurse. He forgot all about it when fifteen minutes later he and Sheppard were standing outside the door to his quarters. 

He hitched up his pants for the fourth time in as many minutes. They were loose around the waist and short in the leg, but he really didn't care because it had meant getting out of the infirmary. The entire time Sheppard had stuck to him like glue. Better yet, he'd let Rodney get his bearings at his own pace. 

Damn it. He knew the man's name. He'd struggled ever since they'd gotten back to remember how to say it. He knew the shape of the letters. Knew how it should feel in his mouth. But getting the word out…. "Jo…J…." Blinding pain hit behind his eyeballs and almost dropped him to his knees. 

"Easy there, buddy." John kept a firm grip wrapped around Rodney's elbow holding him up. "You don't have to say my name. I know you know who I am and that you trust me. That's enough. Once Carson gets those stupid pins out, you're going to be fine."

John guided him through the door and urged him to sit down on the bed. Rodney grabbed onto John's wrist, holding him in place. 

"I take that as a hint you don't want me to leave." Grinning, John settled himself down on the bed next to him. "Ha, I knew you couldn't live without me. Don't deny it. I'm the wind beneath your wings. Movie?"

Thankfully, John didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he grabbed Rodney's laptop and began scrolling through his video collection.

Porn! Oh, no no no, he'd just given John tactic permission to scroll through all of his video files. All of them. Including the less than heterosexual ones. Thoughts of getting even for that wind beneath his wings remark went flying out the window. 

"Handyman Hijinks? I haven't seen that title before. You been holding out on me?" John teased. He hit play. "Oh. That's um…okay. I wasn't expecting that."

Rodney grimaced as John's eyebrows climbed steadily higher. 

John tilted his head to the side as if a different angle would add clarity. "That's ah, some kind of stamina." He looked up at Rodney and smirked. "So, wanna watch Die Hard?"

Rodney threw his pillow at John's head. 

"Easy, easy. You're supposed to be resting." John closed the laptop and set it aside. "You had me…all of us worried." 

It didn't take a genius to know 'worried' translated as hair-pulling frantic. Rodney could read the stress and residual anger written all over John's face. Not knowing how to help but needing to do something, Rodney patted his own chest trying to say, I'm here.

"It got bad enough that no one would practice with Teyla," John said. "She came close to crippling a half dozen Marines before the warning got out. As for Ford, he started making night rounds in the armory. Turns out he'd been stacking the explosives in order of how many Genii heads they'd blow up. Of course, that was before we found out the Varians were responsible."

Gravely, John laid his palm on the center of Rodney's chest. "I get it. You're here now. I'm just so damned sorry it took us so long to find you. But I swear, no matter how long it took, we were never going to give up."

Rodney knew that. He just wasn't sure how to let John know he knew that. His words were unreliable crap and he hated it, but the bleak expression on John's face was a thousand times worse. 

Uncertain, but needing to do something more, Rodney reached out. Oh. He'd meant to touch John's shoulders and do the forehead touch thing. Somehow his traitorous hands ended up cradling John's face and—his mouth was so close—so close. 

Rodney froze. He shouldn't. John hadn't had a bad reaction to the gay porn but—oh god. He should divert! He should babble and distract. That wouldn't seem strange at all. Only he'd lost that ability.

John reached out and held onto Rodney's shoulders. Held on as if he'd fall apart if he didn't. Rodney could feel John's heated breath on his face. And then, John's mouth was on his. A gentle, almost cautious press of lips as though Rodney might reject his kiss. Fuck that. 

With a groan, he opened his mouth to invite John's tongue in. How odd to think that all this time words had only gotten in the way. As the kiss became heated, he stopped bothering to think at all.

When they finally broke apart, Rodney couldn't stop grinning if he'd wanted to. 

Sheepishly, and with the adorable, roguish bedhead to match, John pulled back. "Um, I didn't quite intend that to happen. Oh, gosh, don't look like that Rodney! I don't mean I didn't like it or want to. Trust me, I really really wanted to. I just don't want you to think I'd take advantage."

Rodney rolled his eyes. He grasped for the word. Something appropriately insulting. He used to have so many of them at his beck and call. John had to know he was an idiot for thinking he was taking advantage. 

With a shake of his head, Rodney gave up on words. Instead, he reached out and swatted the back of John's head. If it happened to turn into more of a caress than a slap, he'd firmly deny it.

Judging from the resulting laugh, he'd gotten his point across. 

"Message received loud and clear." Mockingly, John rubbed the back of his head. "Now it's time you got some rest. I don't want Carson mad at me and neither do you."

Rodney reached out as John got up to leave. 

Instead of taking Rodney's hand John leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Behave. I'll be back, and once you get your full voice back, then you and I? We're going to pick up where we left off and that's a promise."

~*~

Rodney pushed down on his knee trying to still the bouncing. His eyes darted around the infirmary as he waited for Carson to show up. He'd come here first thing in the morning, skipping breakfast in his hope to get the surgery over as soon as possible.

John breezed in looking more kissable than ever and Rodney forgot all about his knee.

"Hey, I thought we were going to come here together. Couldn't wait, huh?" John rocked up on his toes. There's Carson now. Hey, doc, mind if I hang around this time?"

"I'm afraid there won't be much to see. I'll need to draw a bit of blood and test it before we go further." Firmly, Carson added. "I thought I told you I'd not be proceeding with the pin removal until this afternoon?"

"Guess he's just anxious," John said. "We've got plans for after."

Rodney's eyes widened at the smart remark. Did John just out them? No. He couldn't have. But still, there was something in his deep-honeyed voice that put lie to it being an innocent comment. The way Carson's eyebrows were raised it hadn't gone by him either. 

Carson drew his blood and then shooed them out of the infirmary. "Keep your radio on, Major Sheppard. I'll let you know when you can bring Rodney back."

With nothing to do but wait, John escorted Rodney to the mess. "First caffeine, maybe one or two of those fruit muffins, and then a trip to the lab. Zelenka's been pulling his hair out with you gone. It's not a good look for him."

Shit, the lab. Rodney swallowed. God, he'd been gone so long. What if he'd forgotten more than just words? What if he couldn't do the work? What were the odds he could pick up where he'd left off? Not good, that's what they were. Not good at all.

John slid his muffin onto Rodney's tray. "I know you're worried about getting back to work. But I saw the way you fixed that bike up. You made that old, alien engine sing like a dream. Trust me, you've got nothing to worry about."

He still wasn't sure about that, but how could anyone fight against the hopeful look in John's eyes?

Rodney lingered over his coffee as long as John would let him. Not long enough. Decisively, John got up, removed their trays, and pushed him toward the door. "Lab, now, McKay."

As soon as they entered the room, Radek jumped up and waved his arms. "Rodney! What took you so long? You are never allowed to be captured again, my friend. My heart cannot take it and neither can the city. The imbeciles that think they know better, when you see what they have done to our beautiful city…." He stopped mid-rant and frowned. 

Accusingly, Radek shook his finger in John's face. "You said he was not hurt! But obviously, that is a lie. Rodney is never this quiet for so long!"

John held up his hands. "It's just a little snafu that Carson is going to fix this afternoon. Isn't that right, Rodney? Meanwhile, he's not too keen on chatting."

"Hrumph. We shall see. If he is not fixed, we will blow up the slaver's gate, and perhaps the Varian's too, yes? Oh, I know you cannot reveal your plan, Major, but I can see it in your eyes. Not to worry. There are many here that will help and keep it our little secret."

"Right," John drawled. "But let's just hold off on that plan for a bit." He held up his hand for silence and answered his radio. "Excuse us, Radek. Carson is ready for us." 

Rodney let himself be taken by the arm. Normally it would drive him crazy to be led around, but the touch seemed to steady John. And, yes, he could admit it steadied him too. He'd never been the touchy-feely type, but John Sheppard had a way of throwing the rule book out the window.

On their way out the door, John leaned in and whispered, "I had no idea your little scientist friend was so eager to blow things up. Remind me to never leave him and Ford alone in the same room."

When it came right down to it, having the pins removed didn't turn out to be a big deal at all. Carson had him lie down on a gurney and within two minutes had painlessly removed the both of them. 

"There now. How are you feeling?" Carson asked, without a trace of worry in his voice. 

"He'll have full use of his speech back now?" John asked. 

"Yes indeed. It may take a few hours or a few minutes. With nothing interfering with his speech centers, he should be good as new." 

Rodney began reciting pi. Oh, thank fuck. The numbers were right there on the tip of his tongue in the exact order as they should be. 

"Rodney?"

"John! Major John Sheppard—Kirk." Rodney grinned. 

John rolled his eyes. "That you can remember. Thanks."

"You!" Rodney pointed at Carson and said, "Doctor Carson Beckett. Friend," which seemed to fluster Carson.

Beaming, he turned back to John. "I need to go see Radek and find out what the idiots have done to my city." He rolled the word _idiots_ over his tongue and said it again out of sheer pleasure, "Idiots." 

"It’s good to have you back," John said. 

Ha! John might be hiding his trademark smirk, but Rodney could hear it in his voice. What he didn’t expect was for John to accompany him to the main lab or how much safer having John there made him feel. This went way beyond a casual kiss. 

As they walked down the hall, Rodney let his hand brush against John’s. "My Kirk," he husked, just loud enough for John to hear.

"If you’re angling for another kiss, all you have to do is wait."

"I hate waiting." Rodney pouted. He knew couldn’t pull off a pout as sexy as John’s but he tried.

"Now that’s just cheating," John said, leaning so close his lips brushed against Rodney's ear. Close but still no kiss. Rodney sighed.

His attention stayed on John right up until he noticed the equations on the whiteboard. Horrified, he ran over and began erasing the mass of errors. "What imbecile did this? Are you trying to blow us up? Radek!"

"Rodney, Rodney, do not erase the whole thing," Radek came running up. "Is not what you think!"

Rodney threw the eraser at his head. "I think it's the fastest way to destabilized the Zed PM housing and blow us all the hell into the next galaxy."

"Oh. That bad?" Radek smiled. "It's good to have you back, Rodney."

Suspiciously, Rodney asked, "What is this, some kind of test?"

"Perhaps, yes. Since you were not here, we had no one to vet the new science department recruits. By that I mean, no one to bully and humiliate them into proper place, and so, keep them from putting our lives in danger through ignorance.

"So, I write this and see how long it takes for them to notice. When such an obvious mistake is pointed out it gets their attention." 

"Oh. Timed?" Rodney asked.

"Of course," Radek continued. "Anyone who cannot spot the mistake in fifteen minutes is sent to relearn physics."

"You're too generous. Keep the equation, but drop the time to five minutes." Rodney cast a knowing look at John. "Sometimes five minutes is all you get."

Somberly, John agreed and Rodney didn't need telepathy to know what he was thinking. Five minutes had been all it took for his team to go down, and for Rodney to disappear through the gate. 

"Did you know about this gross miscalculation, Sheppard?" Rodney asked, as he added his own errors to the equation.

"Nope. But I always knew we were going to get you back," John's words were uttered with a belief so strong Rodney would doubt his own genius before he'd doubt John's determination.

~*~

Keeping his grin under wraps, John stood next to Rodney in front of the open Stargate. "Glad you could make it, McKay."

"Only because you made an excellent case for my being here." 

He slung his arm over Rodney's shoulders. "Yeah, if I'd known you were such a pushover after a blowjob, I'd have started doing them a lot sooner." 

John watched as the color rose on Rodney's cheeks. Oh, yeah, he still had it.

Still flustered and doing a lousy job of hiding it, Rodney snapped, "Why am I here, exactly?" 

"Because I wanted you to see this." John spoke into his radio. "We're ready. Bring it through, Lieutenant Ford."

Rodney's mouth dropped open as Ford eased the shiny, red motorcycle and sidecar through the wormhole. "Is that…?"

"The very same one we make our escape on," John said, beaming. The jaw-dropping effect it had on Rodney made the effort of keeping his surprise a secret completely worth it.

"Oh—oh no—you are not planning on racing that thing anywhere around the city with me in it!" 

John let his gaze drop from Rodney's face to slowly trail down the length of his body, and just as slowly travel back up again. Rodney turned a delightful shade of red and John knew he'd already won. "Let's leave that up for negotiation."

Ford, standing there with a cocky shit-eating grin, said, "Have you told him yet, sir?"

"What? Told me what!?" Rodney demanded to know.

John rocked back on his heels enjoying the moment. Teyla and Ford did a little recon for me. They discovered there's a track that goes all around the perimeter of Atlantis."

"Except for the break, sir." 

"Right. As Ford said, except for a break near the East pier where it was flooded. As it turns out, a couple of my combat engineers are building a bridge for it even as we speak."

Rodney's face paled. "And you want to ride that thing with me on it around this track and over a possibly unstable bridge. I've seen how you drive Mr. Let's-see-how-fast-we-can-go. Nope. Not doing it."

"Aw, Rodney. I have no idea what you mean by fast. And, it's Major Let's-see-how-fast-we-can-go." John nodded to Ford. "Why don't you take the motorcycle and park it in the jumper bay?"

As all eyes in the gate room followed Ford, John laid his hand on the back of Rodney's neck and quietly said, "I won't try to push you into anything, but I think we should give it a spin. Could be fun."

"Oh, my, god. You have a plan. I can see it brewing behind your eyes. It can't be to get rid of me, or why bother to bring me back? So, what is it?"

Still keeping his voice low enough that only Rodney could hear, John said, "Think about it. Miles and miles of privacy where we can pick our spot, plus we'd be damned hard to follow."

"I—okay. I can see the merit in that," Rodney said, meeting John's eyes before swiftly dropping his gaze and drawing in a careful breath. "I'm—open to negotiation."

The irony wasn't lost on him that it had taken losing his words to understand the language of John Sheppard. All he'd had to do was get captured, rescued, and endure minor surgery. Piece of cake.


End file.
